The inventor has observed that there is a need for improving the safety and ease by which individuals access the bow of a boat mounted on a trailer, for example, to get on the boat before the trailer and boat backed into the water to launch the boat. Current trailers typically have a ladder mounted near the bow stop of the trailer so that a person can climb the ladder and access the bow of the boat. The current ladders, however, are not completely satisfactory because they either have too much of a vertical orientation, are flimsy or narrow, do not reach the top surface of the bow, do not come close enough to the ground to allow easy stepping onto the ladder, or do not includes handles for climbing up the ladder. The prior art discloses numerous other methods of mounting ladders to objects such as vehicles.
It also is known to use ladders on trailers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,100,740 discloses a boat trailer in which a boat trailer ladder is secured to and movable along the trailer rails. A hook engages the ladder to standard boat trailer rails. An A-frame ladder provides steps from approximately the level of the trailer rails, or in alternative embodiments from approximately ground level, up for a distance above the trailer rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,193 discloses a boat ladder attached to a trailer for access to a bow of a boat. The ladder has two side rails with spaced-apart steps or rungs between the side rails, the lower portion of one of the side rails curving a predetermined distance toward the other side rail and then running parallel with the other side rail wherein the lower ends of the ladder side rails fit into bases secured to a front longitudinal member of the trailer. The bases are secured on each side of the longitudinal member, i.e., the tongue, of the trailer, and the lower ends of the side rails fit into cylindrical tubes attached to the sides of the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,640 discloses a boat ladder having a rigid I-beam support with steps pivotally attached for making the ladder compact. The ladder is pivotally engaged with a compartment in the boat hull for storing the ladder when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,146 discloses a ladder which is described as being useful as a boat ladder. The ladder is constructed with a pair of centrally located side-by-side elongated support members which are movable lengthwise, to a limited degree, with respect to one another. The ladder rungs are pivotally attached to the support members such that that when one support member is moved lengthwise the rungs are swung to extend outward from the support members for use as a stepping ladder and swung inward to be in line with the support members to make the ladder compact for storage. The ladder is pivotably engageable with a storage compartment in a boat hull for swinging the ladder downward for use from an opening in the compartment and upward in line with the opening for insertion into the compartment for storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,946 discloses an access step and winch mounting assembly for a load carrying device, such as a boat trailer. The assembly includes a front member for mounting on a frame of the trailer, a top member extending from the front member and a cross bar connected to the top member. The top member mounts a winch for drawing a load, such as a boat, onto the trailer. The cross bar mounts load-engaging members. A step subassembly includes a stringer depending downwardly from the cross bar and multiple rungs with arcuate configurations each extending between the front member and the stringer member. The step subassembly is outwardly and laterally convex.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,076 discloses a trailer step with footing for a person launching or loading a boat onto a trailer. The trailer step includes a step formed with a platform and two parallel side plates. The side plates snugly receive the trailer tongue therebetween and extend below the tongue. Tightening bolts through the side plates sandwiches the tongue therebetween to rigidly mount the safety trailer step to the trailer tongue. The platform may be centered over the tongue, or it may be laterally offset therefrom. A non-skid plastic plate may be attached to the platform's upper surface.